Shadow Transport Secretary Theresa Villiers has taken up arms on behalf of the road haulage industry in the House of Commons.
I do hope that's a metaphorical rather than literal taking up of arms (although others may not be of the same opinion).
I changed it – just because it threw me on first read. I wonder how common it is to use 'take up arms' metaphorically...
Update 21/07: A very famous use of 'take up arms' (or rather, 'take arms') has just occurred to me, from Hamlet's most famous speech:
To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them?
'Sea of troubles' is definitely metaphorical here, but 'take arms'? Not sure.
